Issues in Ocean Resource Management

Ocean environmental relations between the industrial North and the developing South are considered. The first issue is whether multiple environmental standards for ocean pollution abatement, less stringent for poor countries, are economically rational. Multiple standards are generally more efficient, but it does not follow that developing countries should always choose lower standards than wealthier countries. Transfrontier pollution is then defined, and two causes of globally inefficient resource allocation are analyzed: uncorrected international environmental externalities, and the failure of international negotiations to secure optimal ocean pollution abatement levels without a functioning international "market" for environmental rights. Finally, the concept of environmental exploitation of the poor countries by the rich countries is examined. Estimates for marine oil pollution suggest that industrial countries do indeed make disproportionate use of the oceans for waste disposal.